Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-01-14
FIGHTING AN ANACONDA.
dow n Bravo Sailor Lad Made Huge
Reptile Give Up Its Prey.

heptlic tiNe Up its frey
An old gentleman from Reading,
Mass, TO whom / have several times
been indebted for good story, says a
story-wr.ter, has told this one of n
young sailor (who was a boy when tho
old gentleman was a boy), named
Phineas Gucrncy:
This, Phin's first glimpse of equa-
torial countries, was at an unknown
landing on the South American coast.
We can imagine how the sight of trop-
ical luXuriance and palms and llianas
astonished his northern eyes. The Good
Adventure (his ship lay a week or
more in the cove, and one afternoon
Phin took rather ventureSOme ramblc,
following the crooks and bends of a
small tidal river.
"As our young explorer went on, tho
stiffness of the place was broken by a
heavy splashing in the stream. at some
distance ahead, followed in a moment
or two by frightful bellowings, and all
the commngled sounds of "a deadly
tussle Phn stood rooted TO the ground,
though more from astonishment than
fear. Then the strange bawling and
splash 'ng continuing, he was drawn by
great curiosity to Zee what sort of u
fracas was going on and what beasts
were fighting. Running toward tho
noise, he came out near a great sauna
na-tree, with long, dropping branches
which grew partly in the water, and saw
horned creature, as he described it,
plung ng 10 and fro, with the biggest
snake there ever was in tho world.
hanging hold of the animals nose, and
rolling and tumbiihg itself In great
CLOS v folds on the ground!
''Never had Ph n seen nor heard OF
such u snake rs that before! He de-
clared that ii was more than forty foot
long, and as big round as the brig s
foremast, and that 1t was 'hitched way
up TO limb of the tree by its tail Ho
says of it that it was Il 'yaller snake
with black spots all along its back and
SIDES, but that It's belly was skim-mill1
color; also that its head was yellow and
black; and that its eyes were 'bulged out
Ike two cbiny sassers, and were green
as frog Spit. except in the m ddle,
where they looked like bright brass.
"Back aud forth plunged the bullock,
below 'ng loudly in its fright and dis
tress; but when once these water boas
get n grip with their strong, retroverted
teeth, it is next to impossible for an an
imal TO break away from them. AT
length. the boa got one huge fold over
the bullock's rump, and threw its hind
legs from under its body. Very short
ly now it would have mastered tho
steer-if Phin had not had wrong to
right. From the outset our young
sailors sympathies had been with The
.horEed creature.
"To see neat stock used in that way
by an ugly monster of snake wen
against Phin's grain, and at this juno
ture he dashed in with his cheetOoM anC
began to hammer the snakes head will
all his might The cheetOoM was ~
heavy as n sledge, and Phin had sturd,
arm of his own. yet his first blow
seemed not to produce the slightest CT
feet upon the intent monster. But sud
denly il relaxed its hold, and with ;
single convulsive roll of its coils, flung
its slf far back under the rec. The steer
thus left free. struggled to its feet, shooh
its horns and staggered off through Tho
canes.
'Phin was detcrm ned to finish Tho
life of the boa, but poisonous eflluvia
from its body filed the air and made
him so sick that he left the reptile to IFS
uncertain fate. y Youths COmpani0H.